Submarine mine.



G. E. EUA.

SUBMARINE MINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10, 1917.

Patented May15, 1937.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

a. E. EuA. SUBMARINE MINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 1917- 1,226,1 96. Patented May15, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO VICKERS LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

SUBMARINE MINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1917.

Application filed February 10, 1917. Serial No. 147,827.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA, a subject of the King of Italy, residing at Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Submarine Mines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the firing gear of submarine mines.

According to the invention the firing gear is provided with-a retaining or safety device connected to a member which is placed under tension to hold the said device in itsretaining or safety position and which is'so constructed and arranged that when a ship strikes the mine the tension on the said member will be relieved to permit the retaining device to be displaced and the mine fired. The said tension member may comprise a cable supported upon pegs or projections which are carried by the mine casing and are so arranged that when a ship strikes the mine one or more of the projections are displaced, thus releasing the cable so that it is no longer under tension as aforesaid. Alternatively the projections or bosses may be formed or provided on a ring or member composed of porcelain or other suitable readily breakable material; this ring is attached in any appropriate manner to the outer surface of the mine, so that when the latter is struck by a ship the ring will be fractured and the tension on the tension cable will be relieved to permit the retaining device of the firing gear to be displaced and the mine fired.

The retaining device may be in the form of a pivoted plate having an inclined surface with which a member attached to the striker cooperates. This member may be connected to the anchor cable so that when the tension cable is released, the pull on the anchor cable due to the buoyancy of the mine causes the said member to displace the retaining device to its freed position and retracts the striker against the resistance of its spring until the striker head becomes liberated from the striker stem whereupon the head is impelled forward by the striker spring to fire the mine.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, showing a mine provided with my lmprovements. Y

Fig. 2 is a plan, viewed from beneath the mine, of the retaining device shown in Fig. 1, this device being shown on an enlarged scale and in its normal position before the mine is struck.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the retaining device in its freed position, and

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on the line 1, 1 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and G are respectively a plan and a side elevation showing the alternative arrangement' in which the projections are formed or provided on a ring of porcelain or other readily breakable material.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing a modified arrangement.

Fig. 8 is a part plan of Fig. 7.

Figs. 9 and 10 are diagrammatic side elevations showing two further modified arrangements.

A is the mine body or casing, is the aforesaid tension member or cable (hereinafter termed the tension cable), C, C are the pegs or projections upon which the tension cable is supported and D is the aforesaid retaining device.

' In the example shown by Fig. 1 the pegs or projections C, C arecarried directly by the mine casing and are arranged in two staggered rows; one" row is at or near the portion of the casing having the largest diameter (in the case ofa spherical mine) and the other row near the upper part of the said casing, the tension cable B being passed under each projection in the lower row and over each projection in the upper row so that the cable is stretched in an undulating or sinuous manner around the mine casing as shown. As the said projections are mounted directly upon the mine casing the deformation of the latter, which would take place when struck by a vessel, would have the effect of disengaging one or more of the projections from the cable. In the example shown by Figs. 5 and 6, the promay be employed as desired; in the former case the tension cable would be passed over and beneath projections on the two rings alternately and in the latter case one set of projections would be constructed and arranged as described with reference to Fig. 1. Instead of the above-described arrangements the projections could be otherwise suitably arranged to permit them to assume the releasing position; for instance they might as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 be mounted upon plates C affixed to the mine casing, which plates, on impact of a vessel therewith, Wouldmove toward the mine casing and thereby cause the projections to release the cable. Other means may be provided for causing the tension of the cable B to be relieved when the mine is struck by a ship; thus as shown by Fig. 9 a cutter C situated on the mine casing with its cutting edge (1 adjacent to the cable may be employed and adapted to be operated by impact of ship with the cutter to sever the cable. This cutter may normally be held in its inoperative position shown by full lines by a plug C of sal-ammoniac and a spring may be provided for displacing the said cutter to its operative position shown by broken lines in Fig. 9. In Fig. 10 the cable is supported by a pivoted member G which is held in the position shown, by a pivoted arm C through a hole or slot in which the upper end of the member C passes. The arm C is provided with a block C when a ship strikes this block thearm C is moved into the position shown by broken lines in Fig. 10 and the member C is left unsupported thereby relieving the tension on the cable. A sal-ammoniac, plug (not shown) may be employed for normally holding the arm C in the position shown by full lines.

The retaining device D is, as aforesaid, in the form of a plate which is pivoted at d to the mine casing and is formed with an inclined surface (see Fig. 4) against which bears an inclined surface on a collar 6 attached to the striker rod or stem E connected to the anchor cable of the mine. The buoyancy of the mine casing A thus tends to cause the retaining device D to be moved about its pivot d into the position shown by Fig. 3; this movement however is prevented by the tension cable B and also, until a certain time has elapsed after the mine has been launched, by a sal-ammoniac or other soluble plug D. This plug may conveniently be carried in a cavity formed in a bracket 03' attached to the mine casing. A plunger 6Z rests at one end against the said soluble plug and at the other end against a toe-piece D of the retaining member. The bracketd is formed with suit able holes to enable sea-water to have access to the soluble plug. A stop pin D is provided for limiting the movement of theretaining member when the cable 13 is being placed under tension, this operation being effected by suitable means such as the turn buckle D shown in Fig. 1.

In the example shown by Fig. 1 the firing gear is of the well known kind in which the striker head E is connected to the striker rod or stem E through the intermediary of a breakable pin e It is to be understood however that the invention may be used in conjunction with other suitable forms of percussive firing gear and also with firing gear other than percussive.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Submarine mine firing gear provided with a retainingor safety device for holding the firing gear inoperative a flexible cable connected to the retaining device for holding it in a predetermined position, and

mine, one or more of the projections are displaced, thus releasing the cable so that it is no longer under tension; substantially as described.

3. Submarine mine firing gear comprising the combination of a mine casing, a ring or member composed of porcelain or other readily breakable .material suitably con nected to the casing, projections or bosses formed on the ring or member, a member supported under tension upon the projections or bosses, and a retaining or safety device connected to the last named member; 7

substantially as described.

4:. Submarine mine firing gear comprising the combination of a striker having a stem, a retaining device for holding the striker in inoperative position, and a tension member or cable to which the retaining device is connected, the retaining device being in the form of a plate having an inclined surface which coacts with a portion of the striker stem, whereby the plate is displaced when the tension on the member or cable is re-' lieved by the impact of a ship with the mine; substantially as described.

5. A submarine mine comprising the combination of a casing, a flexible member or cable mounted upon the mine casing at a plurality of distributed points, firing gear for the mine and a retaining or safety member connected to the flexible member or cable and normally held thereby in a position for preventing operation of the firing gear; substantially as described.

6. A submarine mine comprising the combination of a casing, a plurality of breakable supporting devices mounted thereon at points distributed over the surface of the casing, a flexible member positioned by the breakable supporting devices, firing gear for the mine, and a retaining or safety de- 10 ment of one of the supporting devices for the 15 flexible member; substantially as described.

GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

